Less than two weeks ago, the National Rifle Association held their 153rd Annual Meeting in Dallas. Unlike many before it, this one went on without the retired and disgraced former EVP and CEO Wayne LaPierre. His “retirement” and the embarrassing revelations that were revealed in a New York courtroom have cast a pall over the future survivability of the organization and the Dallas convention.
But at the conclusion of the Board of Directors meeting and elections, the NRA’s much-maligned “reformers” had won some key slots on the Board of Directors. Also, a new Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer — this one nominated from the floor — had defeated the Nominating Committee’s choice to replace LaPierre.
New EVP/CEO Doug Hamlin is no stranger to the NRA, having headed the NRA’s Publications division for the past ten years. But his isn’t one of those names we’ve seen splashed across the headlines.
For twenty-three years, my requests to interview Wayne LaPierre when he was the NRA’s EVP and CEO were routinely denied. In what I consider the first tangible sign of change that I’ve seen, I was given an opportunity to interview Doug Hamlin. I did not turn the opportunity down.
Today, in his first interview since assuming the top slot, Hamlin speaks with OWDN publisher Jim Shepherd about his first ten days on the job, his plans for the immediate future, and hopes of convincing disenfranchised former NRA supporters to give “NRA 2.0” another chance.
QA Outdoors All right, Doug Hamlin, let’s get right into it.
You sent an email to the employees of the NRA this week that said, “I’m humbled and honored to be sending you this email as the EVP CEO.” You know, these people, you’ve worked with them for 10 years. You’re not an unknown entity at the NRA. And you’re supported by the “reformers” wanting to change the way the NRA has operated for years.
But you have a foot in two camps. How do you move through that?
Doug Hamlin The one thing about NRA is it’s a…how do I say it…somewhat isolated. And in the publications division, I stayed in my lane and focused on the business I was asked to manage. And I did the best I could at that.
Fortunately, I was able to stay out of a lot of the things that were happening peripherally. I didn’t engage in those areas. My eyes and ears were open and I saw what was going on. But I suffered like the rest of the staff for the last five years with all of these distractions. But I just stayed in my business. And that was a blessing. Because the folks that I get to work with in the publications division are first rate, the best people I’ve ever worked with in the industry. And I’ve been in the industry on and off for a long time.
QA Okay…some people will look at that the initial changes and the lack of other changes, or the fact that everything didn’t change and say, “It’s not enough.” There are always some people that are never going to be satisfied with what’s happened.
I read a comment that said you were just “reshuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic.”
What do you say to them? How do you at least get them to open their minds as to what’s going on now? Is this the start of the next 153 years of the NRA or are we simply continuing the last five years of the NRA?
DH We’re going to reposition ourselves. One of the things I’m setting as a priority is to create more op-ed material and put that information out there in places in the mainstream media, if you will, where we did not engage in the past. And the objective is to quote “make us the good guys” unquote.
I mean, when you look at NRA members and who we are over the last 153 years, we’re blue collar folks, like my parents, we’re military veterans like myself. We have jobs. We have families. We’re community leaders. And we don’t talk about that enough.
So the objective is to put our messaging and our brand in places where we haven’t been, to go on offense. To make ourselves available to places like you, Jim, and others in your industry.
That’s where we have to start to retool this thing, and to make ourselves available out there in mainstream, too. And to welcome back the folks that have been dissatisfied based on the billions of dollars and anti NRA publicity that’s been focused against us the last five years.
Little by little, we will rebuild what we’re doing. And once of the ways we’re going to do that is through our Friends of the NRA banquets. Right now, we have 700-plus. We used to be over a thousand. The goal is to get back to that, to touch 1,000 communities instead of 700.
Same thing with our clubs and associations, our state clubs and associations. We’ve got over 8000 clubs that are affiliated with us. Over 3,000 of those folks are part of what we call the NRA Business Alliance.
Again, we want to welcome folks back. We want to highlight who we really are. And we want to be available to talk about ourselves in a positive way. We want to go on offense.
Right now, we can’t. Because of certain things happening around us, we still have to be very careful, for the obvious reasons about what we say and who we say it to.
QA There’s also a concern…well, I’m just going to ask it. What’s your financial status? We’re talking about transparency, how bad is the financial status.
DH I will say up front, we’re gonna make it. But this is a crisis management situation. I won’t sugarcoat it. I’ve been in business as CEO at a lot of different places for a lot of years. This is a classic turnaround.
But we have we have the the brand…we have the staff…they’re completely into it. They’re behind us. They want to win. They just need leadership.
Let me show you some…we had the board meeting a week ago Monday. We had the open elections. There was a motion from the floor to have those proceedings open to the public which was pushed through. That was step one to this transparency thing that we’re trying to do.
Then we had a long day. I’ve been going to these board meetings for over 10 years now, and this meeting…well, it didn’t conclude until almost 10pm at night.
(I) got on a red-eye flight that night. Jumped on just after midnight. Went to a hotel and thought I had a room. They didn’t have a room for me. Finally, they felt sorry for me, gave me a room. Slept three hours. Quick shower, shave, and I got into the building about 10 am Eastern time. I ran into Mark Keefe, Mike Sanford, and Jim Hanlon, three publication staffers.
They were…they were really glad to see me because the word was starting to filter out that I had been elevated. There had been some other elections that had gone another way. But my point being, I wanted to start leading immediately by showing that commitment. And that’s what I did.
And I have not slept a lot in the last 10 days. And I’m not looking for sympathy, I’m just telling the truth. There’s so much to do. I have a great staff around me in every division. They just need leadership.
We have the network through clubs and associations I already mentioned through Friends of NRA and through so many other areas.
The country needs a strong NRA. I don’t think you’ll disagree with that. I ran into (former) Governor and US Senator Pete Wilson on a flight about a month ago. He’s a Republican from California…go figure.
When I was a Marine Captain in Los Angeles in the mid 80s, I was his escort officer for an event that we did. He didn’t remember me from Adam, but I remember him. So we board this five-hour flight. This man was born in 1933, so he’s pushing 90, 91…walks on the plane by himself…sits in row 33 on a 40 row airplane. Doesn’t have any big fanfare. He’s just going to Washington. You know, you got a bunch of political advocates on there, but nobody knew who Pete Wilson was. But I did.
I went back to talk to him, we’re both in coach class, and identify myself. We’re both Marines. He’s a Marine officer. I’m a Marine officer. So I mentioned that I escorted him at this event in downtown Los Angeles back in the mid 80s and we had a chat. He’s still on the board of the Heritage Foundation. He’s still heavily involved in a lot of conservative areas of politics. So I listened to a lot of things that he had to say…and I’m standing in the middle of the aisle, you know what that’s like…people go to the bathroom and all that.
And he said to me, what are you doing now? And I said, “Well, I work for the National Rifle Association” and handed him my card.
He was aware of the changes that had taken place at the top and knew people at NRA from his career in Washington. And I said to him, “I’m contemplating running for the top spot.” He looked at me and said, “There’s two things you need to think about…why you want to do it and what you’re going to do when you get there.”
I thought about that for about the next three weeks before last Monday’s election. And I said, “No, I’m not going to do it. Because here’s where you are in your career and here’s the situation. The organization’s here and here’s the downside of it. There’s a lot more downside than upside, quite frankly, for someone who’s in my situation.
And I said, “Why would I do it? Because I’m not happy with the direction this country is going. I mean, we’re at a tipping point.”
And with seven million illegal immigrants coming in…with crime…it’s just starting. It’s increasing, but it’s just starting to get bad. You’re in the Nashville area…yeah…I’m in Washington, DC…we see what’s going on around us.
Alright, so my point is that for somebody like me, I’m looking and I’m saying, this is probably my last chance to make an impact in the country that I love. So that’s why I’m doing it.
And the second part of it, “What are you gonna do when you get it?” I’m going to lead this organization to the best of my ability, by outworking everybody that’s out there. And trying to go back to the programs that we’ve had since 1871. And to make them bigger, better, stronger than they are today.
QA All of this could be mooted by Judge Joel Cohen. If he says, I’ve looked at everything and I think you need to have legal guardianship put over you, you’re not responsible for yourself. Is a lot of the work designed to avoid that potential, if not that eventuality?
I was in the courtroom during part of the trial. I don’t believe Judge Cohen wants to put someone from the outside in charge, but he’s not afraid to do that.
He showed during the trial that he’s capable of making the hard decisions, regardless of political feelings or anything else. I believe the trial was was well-run. It was well-administered. And I think it was fair. More so than many of us expected.
How do you think the NRA will be positioned when you go into his finding hearings?
DH I can’t comment on on any of that other than…I can say we are in compliance. At the board meeting 10 days ago, we elected Bob Mensinger as our Chief Compliance Officer. We’ve established very strict whistleblower and reporting policies.
We’ve asked both staffers and non-staffers to submit any ethics questions that they have. And we’re not going to tolerate any retaliation. That’s all part of this new system that was never in place before. But it is in place today.
QA In 2019, there was a purge of board members who were qualified to help lead the NRA through the problems. Any thought to approaching them…to possibly re-engage them?
DH I’ve talked to many of them already. To a person, they’ve all volunteered to come back and support the organization any way they can. They love the NRA.
QA There was a new platform put out by by the the “reform movement.” I’m gonna call them that because I think it’s fair.
In it, they talked about layers of accountability…answerability of justifications…compliance with monitoring… and evaluation, then enforcement of sanctions. That’s straight from Harvard Business School. But that’s a new path for the NRA. With that…can the NRA bring back the $50, the $100 members, needed to survive and get through this?
DH I believe we can. I’m working on some initiatives. I was working on them yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that…and I’ll be working on that tomorrow and this weekend. Because we have to move quickly. We have to talk to people…the ones that are on your subscriber list and all the other folks.
I’m asking them to give us a chance. To have the chance to say good things about us out there in public again. Because it’s got to be grassroots. It’s got to be person-to-person.
And I’m telling you, we’re committed to good governance. We’re committed to transparency. We’re committed to compliance. We’ve put all the mechanisms in place through the election of this Chief Compliance Officer to do it the right way, Jim. That’s all part of this new organization moving forward.
This is an updated NRA. I hate to use “NRA 2.0” but this is where we are.
QA As a former member, if I come back into the fold, speaking philosophically, am I suddenly gonna get inundated with screaming solicitations, things telling me about horrible potentialities are out there if I don’t send you another $100 a month out of my social security check?
The NRA has been shameless about their money-raising. For the last few years it has been ceaseless. Endless. And always attack, attack, attack, attack. That doesn’t build a good feeling for anyone.
How do you change that? How do you get the NRA away from that “deny, deny…management and attack! Attack! Attack!” fundraising mentality?
DH That’s a great question. I get it in my circles. I get it in the places I travel. Like, “You guys are always asking me for money.”
I can’t deny that because I see the direct mail. Because I’m a benefactor member and my sons are members, I get three of everything. They get theirs, I get mine…right? I know how it works.
But I will say this. The return on investment in your NRA has been phenomenal. You have 29 states with constitutional carry…29! It started in Florida. It was a strategy that we rolled out successfully. I mean, I know Tennessee is one. I’m a Virginia resident. I have my concealed carry permit. I have reciprocity in 42 states. In 29 of them, I don’t need a concealed carry permit.
When I’m in California, I can’t carry. When I’m in New York — I have to be there next week — I can’t carry.
You understand all these things, but my point is, we have done so much for firearms freedoms for law-abiding citizens and sometimes that gets lost in the shuffle. People take that for granted.
We had the Bruen case, which we funded, we litigated. The NRA did that.
There’s a lot of folks on the periphery…they love to jump in with an amicus brief here, amicus brief there. But when you talk about the heavy lifting that’s been done…and before Bruen it was Heller. Before that it was McDonald. All right, you know all these things..the NRA has asked for a lot of money, but in return the NRA has created much more freedom for law-abiding citizens.
And as I mentioned earlier in this conversation with crime rates through the roof, we need to have the ability to protect ourselves and our families more now than ever before. I wish it wasn’t that way. I wish we all lived in a utopian world. It doesn’t work that way. I know you understand that. I understand that.
We do need funds to operate. If the membership comes back, we’ll be in a much stronger position. And I will tell you this, we’re going to run this place lean and mean, tight. Just the way I ran publications. A very efficient operation. I’m going to roll those best practices across the board.
QA I’m just going to ask this and it’s going to sound rude, but I don’t intend it that way. The top executives at the NRA…it takes tens of thousands of dues paying members just to cover their overhead. Your overhead. Looking at the salaries of NRA executives compared to senior leaders at other non-profits, you guys look very well compensated.
DH Yeah, well, the answer is yes. But you’re not going to see compensation levels where they were.
Speaking of myself, I took this assignment with no additional compensation. But here I am with five times the work, five times the responsibilities, and no additional compensation. So personally, I’ve stepped up and taken on more and I didn’t need to do that. That’s number one.
As far as talking about a $350 million dollar organizations, which we were in our heyday, and I’ll just say it…maybe a part of the reason we got in trouble is because maybe we didn’t have the sophistication needed…because we hadn’t hired the right managers.
You need business people. And if I’m going to attract business people, I have to pay them. You know that, Jim. Paying somebody half a million dollars a year may not be a bad thing if they’re leading the organization to growth and success legislatively. That’s the return on investment that I talked about. As a result of all our winning, we were targeted.
But unfortunately, we paid all that money, and maybe we didn’t get the return in terms of the situation we ended up in. So that’s that’s been problematic. Yes.
QA Okay Hamlin, I’m throwing the floor open to you. Tell me what you want to say to the people that are reading or hearing this?
DH We need the NRA to not only survive, we need a strong NRA.
The programs that we’ve been managing all these years, whether it’s Eddie Eagle that reaches literally tens of millions of kids with gun safety stuff, or our online Hunter Education course…we spent over $4 million to create that program so that kids can get their hunting license. That’s because one of the primary ways people can exercise their Second Amendment right is through hunting. We want people out there.
Fourteen states have now accepted this online Hunter Education course. We did that on our own.
Something I learned about last week…we have a Law Enforcement Death Benefit. If a law enforcement officer joins for the rate of $20 a year, they get a $35,000 death benefit, if the horrific, unthinkable happens. And their family gets that money within a week. We’ve paid out over $4 million in the Law Enforcement Death Benefit program.
So we’re going to be going out to law enforcement more to make them aware of this program. We think we can pick up members in law enforcement. We stand with law enforcement. We always have.
My point is, we don’t want these programs to go away. The NRA is going to make it.
I got a great staff around me. We’re going to bring back some of the folks that have left NRA in the last five years. That’s both on the staff and members. If we’re successful, the members are going to come back. That’s number one.
We learned a lot with regard to mistakes made. But we’re not going to make those mistakes, again. I’m going to be watching very carefully.
And as far as the next election and where we’re headed as a country, we have to win in November. We have to. We have to put conservative leadership back in the White House and other places. We can do that with a strong NRA. The net-net of it, Jim is we’re going to work really hard.
We have a lot of tools to work with. But it starts with the members. It starts with fiscal responsibility. It starts with transparency.
We’re going to work to create not just the message that I’m giving you today, but to prove it. And that’s that’s the job… to prove to the industry, to the donors, to the members, and to my staff that we’re going to do it.
I appreciate talking to you. You’re one of the big guys in the business and it’s nice to have a chance to talk.
QA Thanks, Doug.
43 Responses
Actions speak louder than words…
Brewer needs to go away and perhaps get sued. As near as I can tell he was looter in chief
Supposedly, Brewer will be terminated, not sure of Doug’s timeline’ but it was irresponsible of the board to pay Brewer’s demand $20 million before elections. Once again, it shows how inept the board is and the board has no concept of fiduciary responsibility as well as the officers at the time of payment!
Brewer not only needs to be fired but his action should be reviewed to determine if any of the dollars he received can be “clawed back”.
Yet another big government tool – he really believes the “seven million illegals” number? That many invaders have arrived just this year – all total there are probably between 40 and 50 million illegals in this country.
He said “And with seven million illegal immigrants coming in…”
Learn to read, and ditch your racist screen name.
No increase in salary NEEDED when you make over $600K.
I see a lot of politicking in this interview, and a lot of the typical “you’d be lost without the NRA”. Yet in a state organization, I saw the NRA work *counter* to some freedom-providing proposals. We *MUST* get away from that. We MUST be non-partisan. Right now, those are the things that keep me from donating, not the corruption, which I believe can be cleaned away.
Agreed, that Doug is disingenuous when he stated he kept his salary at $650K. Furthermore, Doug lives in CA and I’m not sure that commuting is idea, certainly at this time, when tough decision making required.
“We had the Bruen case, which we funded, we litigated. The NRA did that.”
Guess I missed this earlier for I did not think the NRA had anything to do with Bruen.
Not a surprise for me considering I had nothing to do yesterday and just realized I missed it.
His answers seem evasive about a) taking ownership of the betrayal many NRA members feel; b) the wasted membership money; c) the marketing that conflates 2A advocacy with other policy issues.
I understand the desire to move on.
I know he’s only the new EVP.
But he owns it now, and as head of the NRA – as leader of the organization – he speaks for the organization. He would do well to adopt a more conciliatory tone towards members. “I’m sorry for what has happened in the past. Membership money that was given was wasted. Your trust was abused. The NRA has a lot of work to do to win back your trust. I know it’s not going to happen quickly and can really only be demonstrated through actions and avoiding even the appearance of personal enrichment, nepotism, and conflicts of interest.”
Having a compliance and whistleblower program is only step 1, running and managing a compliance and whistleblower program for a few years that has objectively positive results (audited by unconflicted third-party) is when you get a gold star, not before.
Re: marketing – keep in mind that all that urgency and fear-oriented fundraising and the emotional involvement it garnered just underscores the betrayal felt from seeing the money spent on enriching a circle of entrenched, self-interested, irresponsible, and corrupt administrators. I gave money for 2A advocacy, and you spent it on… suits and private jet rides for your niece? You squandered millions of our dollars on boondoggle legal escapades, with a law firm that donates to our enemies? Sweetheart contracts to board members? Post employment compensation deals? Obscene expense reimbursement? I get upset about it just recounting it.
Going back to fear/attack/urgency marketing now would be pretty tone-deaf. Focus on substance – the hard work to revive the organization, sober communication of the issues, the tasks to rebuild a strong core.
Your dreaming of higher salaries also doesn’t engender confidence. Let’s be real: a $350m organization is not considered huge in the private sphere. That’s like a small regional telecom. You don’t get to live like a rock star being the CEO of a $350m organization. It’s pretty banal actually. You’re not worth that much, you are being compensated to steward and lead a cause (non-profit!!!) that millions of individuals give their hard-earned money to support. Do your job well, with humility and a sense of service. Getting high off your own fumes isn’t a good character trait.
And lastly, he didn’t address the status of Brewer. I allow that it wouldn’t be appropriate to speak to that publicly in anything but the most abstract terms, but don’t think the membership is just going to let that issue drop. Plenty of members are holding their money until they see Brewer kicked to the curb.
“Going back to fear/attack/urgency marketing now would be pretty tone-deaf. Focus on substance –…”
The ‘Bruen’ decision gives us a little breathing room, but that room is gone if we no longer control the SCotUS. We have to control both the White House and Senate at the same time to keep constitutional origionalists on the high Court.
All that work we have done since ‘Heller’ in ’08 is *gone* the second they can rule that the 2A is a collective right, not an individual right…
All of your points are excellent and Doug will be better serve to be more transparent, especially when new evidence that comes out that the NRA is not in compliance regardless of his statement “I can say we are in compliance!”
Although Judge Cohen has stated he prefers not to get too involved in the internals of the NRA, Doug is definitely not doing everything a CEO should do for the next court appearance with Judge Cohen!
I am a 91 year old Benefactor Life Member and have given my share per thee years in both money and time as an NRA Instructor and RSO. If the changes don’t show up neither will my donations. I expect changes in a positive direction and if not then the NRA can go belly up.
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Unfortunately, Doug “doesn’t know what he does not know” am I am agreement with you to hold donations until we see tangible reforms.
Also, it was inaccurate for Doug to state “I can say we are in compliance,” especially to Judge Cohen.
I’ve heard good things about this guy, he does a lot of work with gold star families. There’s a Marine corps scholarship foundation he dedicates much time to.
Mr. Doug Hamlin’s military service for our country makes him a patriot and allows us the freedoms we enjoy!
Unfortunately, it is a sad day for the NRA, because Mr. Hamlin “does not know what he does not know!” His statement that “I can say we are in compliance” is not accurate.
Lastly, our consensus is his longevity with the NRA is questionable.
This “Compliance Officer” position is another example of waste and abuse. I voted against this position being created. Grown intelligent human beings do NOT need someone to tell them the difference between right and wrong. For some reason I am not allowed to post on the NRA In Danger blog. Patriot Life member, Ed L.
Although the NRA requires a competent Compliance Officer which is beyond reproach, the current Compliance Officer, Robert Menninger, and Doug (forget the inept board excluding the reformers) have a lot of explaining to the members in a transparent manner!
Remember, Doug “doesn’t know what he does not know!”
Because of this we recommend no donations to the NRA until tangible reforms are realized!
I have to disagree with you, David. I am now a retired facilities manager who has worked for several very large companies on both the West Coast and East Coast. Companies are made up of all types of human beings…..good, bad and indifferent, not just “grown intelligent human beings”.
I have known of some inappropriate management/employee relationships, some hourly employees as well as some design engineers working the system as well as potential environmental issues Because those companies had a compliance program the issues were quickly addressed…..did that prevent future issues….of course not (some people never learn) but it did prevent the ‘desease’ from spreading.
I respect your opinion and have been a senior executive to several fountain companies.
However, the NRA does not have a viable “compliance program” in place and until they do a compliance officer is probable warranted until the reforms are in place with a compliance program!
Will you come to Atterbury, Doug?
I have complained about receiving NRA requests for renewal, even if my membership was not expired. I would get as many as three letters per month for renewal. Postal fees would save $$ for the NRA, who is in charge for this responsibility.
One way to save money NRA, look into it!!
Who is responsible is Doug and the inept board (excluding the reformers)!
ROBERT MENSINGER- NRA COMPLIANCE
• The compliance website (MyComplianceReport.com: Compliance and Ethics Reporting) is NOT anonymous, because several individuals have utilized it to report issues that they believe are non-compliant and/or illegal. One anonymous individual filed a complaint on the compliance website detailing several allegations of corruption, mismanagement of funds, non-compliance, and illegal activities and two weeks later when the individual logged in to see the status of the complaint it could not be accessed. This individual has proof of the date the complaint was created as well as documented proof, two weeks later, that the complaint could not be accessed (i.e., deleted or “deactivated”).
• On or around March or April 2024, Robert Mensinger visited the NRAWC and stated to most employees in a meeting that “only Ron Schmeits or David Kelner can approve Becky Fishes’ expenses.” The expenses of Becky concerning her work as secretary of the board should not be approved by either Schmeits or Kelner but is usually approved by the board or its finance committee. Furthermore, her expenses concerning her positions as Deputy Director, Human Resources, Accounts Manager, etc. should be approved by one manager which ensures fundamental compliance, accounting, and audit protocols along with necessary “check and balances.”
• It would be beneficial if the compliance Manager, Robert Mensinger, would occasionally visit the website and understand that Charles Cotton is no longer the president!
RON SCHMEITS
2000 – Present:
• On or around the year 2000, Schmeits was elected to the NRA board. By 2005, Schcmeits is also listed on the Board at NRAWC. At the same time, he is also, CEO, president, and Director, of the International Bank in Raton, NM. Using his position on the NRAWC board, he transfers the NRAWC financial accounts from their existing bank to the International Bank. This allows Schmeits to oversee all financial accounts of the NRAWC.
• This information can be substantiated by reviewing the NRAWC’s form 990 for the year 2005, in which it states in Schedule A, Part 3, Line 2c, “The fund utilizes a bank in Raton, NM, for its banking activities, including the investments in certain certificates of deposit. The fund’s Chairman is the President of this bank. All transactions between the bank and the fund were at arm’s length.”
Where is the oversight to prevent a board member from potential embezzlement?
• Schmeits failed to disclose his conflict of interest as a silent partner of “Best Western” hotel in Raton, NM. Furthermore, he has directed board members and others to stay at the “Best Western” hotel instead of staying at the onsite facilities (cabins, etc.) at NRAWC, which is a conflict of interest.
• Schmeits has a conflict of interest as silent partner in the “Western Wood Products, Inc.” in Raton, NM. The “Western Wood Products, Inc.” is a timbering company that timbers on the NRAWC’s 33,000 acres.
• On or around June 2018, International Bank was acquired by “InBankshares, Corp.” (https://www.inbank.com/assets/InternationalBankPressReleaseJune18.pdf).
• Currently, Schmeits can unilaterally sign checks without approval from the board, committee, etc., which was authorized by the Compliance Officer, Robert Mensinger.
Our research has determined the person previously mentioned in a post as being deceased is Christopher A. Conte. Born October 16, 1960, and died August 28, 2021. It is with a… – CCDL (Connecticut Citizens Defense League) | Facebook
Jim Baker was head of the NRA’s ILA (Institute of Legislative Action) and ultimately responsible for the hiring of Conte. Conte funneled work to an outside attorney by the name of Charles “Chuck” Michel of the law firm, Michel & Associates to legislate 2nd Amendment cases. Michel & Associates, P.C. (michellawyers.com) Unfortunately, the association between Michel and Conte allowed Michel to double bill the NRA with Conte’s approval. In return, Conte received a kickback!
After Chris Cox and David Lehman (former Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel of ILA) left the NRA, Conte was fired in 2020 by his supervisor. On that very same day, Conte called John Frazer (NRA General Counsel) and stated that if he was not immediately rehired, he would go to the media and destroy the NRA overnight.
On the same day Conte was hired at almost $400,000 a year with the understanding that he would NOT be assigned any work. However, he was given an office, but rarely occupied it, and “worked” from home. Conti was paid this exorbitant amount of money until the day he died!
One should ask Mr. Hamlin and General Counsel to refer Frazer to the Ethics board committee for this malfeasance. What could possibly be wrong with that referral is that Charles Cotton is chairman of the Ethics Committee and would likely result in no action!
Our research has determined the person previously mentioned in a post as being deceased is Christopher A. Conte. Born October 16, 1960, and died August 28, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/ccdlus/posts/it-is-with-a-heavy-heart-that-ccdl-acknowledges-the-passing-of-christopher-conte/4546762655341928/
Jim Baker was head of the NRA’s ILA (Institute of Legislative Action) and ultimately responsible for the hiring of Conte. Conte funneled work to an outside attorney by the name of Charles “Chuck” Michel of the law firm, Michel & Associates to legislate 2nd Amendment cases. https://michellawyers.com/)
Unfortunately, the association between Michel and Conte allowed Michel to double bill the NRA with Conte’s approval. In return, Conte received a kickback!
After Chris Cox and David Lehman (former Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel of ILA) left the NRA, Conte was fired in 2020 by his supervisor. On that very same day, Conte called John Frazer (NRA General Counsel) and stated that if he was not immediately rehired, he would go to the media and destroy the NRA overnight.
On the same day Conte was hired at almost $400,000 a year with the understanding that he would NOT be assigned any work. However, he was given an office, but rarely occupied it, and “worked” from home. Conti was paid this exorbitant amount of money until the day he died!
One should ask Mr. Hamlin and General Counsel to refer Frazer to the Ethics board committee for this malfeasance. What could possibly be wrong with that referral is that Charles Cotton is chairman of the Ethics Committee and would likely result in no action!
We believe there is no set pay for the Secretary of the Board. Since Frazer has been demoted, his pay should commiserate with his current position, not that of general counsel. Mr. Hamlin should pay Frazer’s approximately $100,000 per year to incentivized him to resign. However, all of this is moot in one year, because Frazer will be eligible to retire with the NRA pension based on the (“Rules of 80).
Mr. Hamlin and General Counsel do not understand that for every problem there is always a solution! Instead of thinking nothing can be done, Mr. Hamlin could suspend Frazer, even though he was recently elected as Secretary of the Board, for his malfeasance subject to the board’s approval.
What is the possible problem with that? Mr. Hamlin is likely concerned for his job as CEO. The Executive Committee could suspend or relieve him of his duties, since the Executive committee consists of Charles Cotton and other Wayne loyalists.
Mr. Hamlin should send an email to all the board members requesting a special executive session which only requires a majority of the board and then approve a resolution to fire Frazer.
If Mr. Hamlin were a strategic thinker, he would correct this problem with Frazer because any punitive action against him would be suicidal for the NRA with the bench trail weeks away with Judge Cohen.
Since Mr. Hamlin and General Counsel cannot find solutions to these problems it would benefit them to retain a high-profile attorney to facilitate the solutions to these issues.
Going forward, Mr. Hamlin should be careful concerning intentional misrepresentations because he can be held liable.
For example, to state that the NRA is in full compliance is undeniable false. Similarly, to state that “I will be up front, we’re gonna (sic) make it. But this is a crisis management situation” is misleading when the $20,000,000 dollars owed to Brewer could not be paid in full due to lack of funds.
With all due respect to Mr. Hamlin, especially for his military service, he is not qualified to be CEO of a non-profit. Given that fact, we again strongly recommend that Mr. Hamlin hire consultants to assist him.
Consultants are necessary is in this instance as he is currently only a “place holder” for Brewer, NRA President Barr, Chales Cotton, David Coy, and majority of the board. These individuals will continue to outmaneuver him.
Mr. Hamlin is dealing with “sharks” and does not have the tools to effectively deal with them.
Mr. Hamlin is succumbing to the status quo of non-transparency. Granting one interview in no way proves transparency.
Transparency is proven by being ethical and lawful by revealing the following on the NRA website: who is on the various boards (i.e., NRA, the Foundation and Whittington center), the chairpersons and co-chairpersons of the various committees, the board members of each committee, the current officers, the IRS filings (form 990s, etc.), and all meeting minutes. In addition, educating the current board members about their fiduciary responsibility and oversight.
Finally, provide complete financials to board members to allow them to perform their fiduciary responsibility and oversight.
The fact that the Special Litigation Committee’s four board members are the only ones privy to legal expenses is problematic.
Special thanks to our research detectives and forensic accountants that go through the myriads of shell companies and associated nonprofits, tax fillings, etc.
Mr. Hamlin’s’ current effort to reform the NRA will not fare well in the upcoming letter to Judge Cohen!
Until Mr. Hamlin shows some intestinal fortitude and stop looking over his shoulders being afraid of the Executive committee firing him (as previously state the is suicidal before the bench trial in a few weeks), WE RECOMMEND NO DONATIONS TO THE NRA UNTIL THERE IS TANGIBLE REFORM!